Blind in Theatre Festival

Equally as challenging in other ways were the two ’Manipulation Techniques in Theatre’ workshops. The first of these in particular would have benefited from the sort of instinctual feeling you get when you have worked with a group on a number of occasions. Building up a tableau of movement can be much more rewarding with an established working relationship, but in practice we didn’t even get to know who exactly was taking part in the workshop, an error that could easily have been rectified at the beginning of the session.

I should also mention our own performance of ‘Whiffing and Blinding Cabaret’. Although I felt I didn’t do myself full justice in my own performance - preparation time had been of necessity slightly rushed due to our early appearance in the programme - the end result as a whole was a triumph of communication with the audience. It showed how language barriers can be crossed by enthusiasm in putting across the meaning of the performance.” Andrew Hodgson.

“I felt that over all the trip went very well and was a good learning experience. We were treated well and the pieces that were presented were interesting and definitely sparked conversation. As far as our Cabaret is concerned, I felt that it went really well and was very fun to perform. It seems to me that we were the only group who set out to do something humorous and light hearted, even if we were talking about “heavy” subjects. Everyone else had something that felt more serious somehow. I was happy to be a part of the silliness. I was also very pleased with how much was understood of our piece considering the language barriers. I guess, all in all it felt really triumphant for me. I have never done a piece like that before, and this is one of the first things I have done where being blind was not an aside to my performance. It was integral to it, and that was very liberating. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the mighty cheer that went up when I belted out “I just want to F…ing daaance!” It was great. One thing about the trip that did leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth was the research students that had come to write about the festival, obviously having little or no experience with blind and visually impaired people. I’m sure they meant well, and indeed at times were very helpful to have around, but over all I am not sure they “got it.” They were there to do research about a topic that interested them because they didn’t know much about blindness and theatre. So they came to watch us, sort of like an exhibit. This in itself isn’t really all that bad, but I thought the purpose of this festival was to celebrate the art that we create as blind theatre practitioners as well as to give ourselves another venue to have a voice for advocacy. Their purpose was different from ours, and sometimes that felt obtrusive to conversations that were had about the pieces we saw and the festival organization as a whole. I’m glad that the festival keeps growing, and hope to return in two years to see what will happen next time around. I do hope that they can get some more publicity around the event so that more patrons can come and see what is happening. It is very important work and definitely needs to continue.” Amelia Cavallo.

“First of all, we could hardly have been better looked after. Whatever deficiencies there were in that respect must have been fairly minor, or down to personal idiosyncrasies on the part of particular individuals, but I honestly can’t think of anything serious enough to mention. This may owe something to the fact that I didn’t attempt to use the Wellness Centre in the hotel! The food was generally of a good standard, with some examples of sheer excellence, and the human assistance we were supplied with was copious in quantity and pretty high in quality. A big hand for our own Carmel here, too! I don’t think that there was anybody associated with the running of the festival that wasn’t eager to be friendly and helpful. The other performances in the programme I found varied, stimulating and enjoyable, and the workshops were diverse and challenging, - generally worthwhile, in fact, despite yours truly making a total pig’s ear of one of them: a bit more forewarning and maybe some re-scheduling might have been in order for this element in the proceedings.

Professionally? Well, as a borderline case here still, I can say that the opportunity to go through our “doings in the dark” routine once more, but in arguably stranger conditions, was distinctly beneficial, including some sorely needed practice for me at improvising on the melodica. The chance to study other people’s approaches and methods, whilst still being able to sit and appreciate their product as an audience member, was also enlightening. All in all, I’d say it was an enriching experience, worth repeating and taking forward.” Sandy Easton.

“Festival highlights for me were:

Extants Effing and blinding cabaret - It was sexy edgy and exploring a new language for theatre. This was the rocking roll piece of the festival. as a sighted person I had seen this show in rehearsal but once the show was on. the darkness changed my whole experience. I was thrown into a world of timelessness, a world of sensation and texture. i experienced the sound without the distraction of sight which I found quite meditative. it offers a portal into the dream world. I also noticed that sighted audience members were either frightened or liberated by the darkness and expressing themselves at the raucous "hit me with your rhythm stick" number!!!. This is pioneering work - Theatre in the Dark. The Belgium piece was inspiring because it used an access tool - layers of muslin as a creative set giving the piece a whole trance like feel of being in a world of dream where lines or staccatos don’t apply. I dropped into another space. I also loved audio describing for this show. it made me realise that audio describing is creatively part of a whole experience of been a live audience sharing. I love the fact that the whole audience was talking. I feel again it is a creative tool for what theatre is a bout. shared experience and anarchy. Other highlights were the community of discussion that arose from each show. all helping to expand and consolidate the experience of "what is theatre". it has to be said that the hospitality and food were magnificent. this is an inspiring festival and I took lots of nuggets with me.” Carmel Morrissey.